Russian archaeologists say they are digging for bodies of Soviet soldiers. Critics say they are burying Stalin’s atrocities
Opponents of archaeological digs by the Kremlin-backed Russian Military History Society say they are trying to cover up Stalinist purges in a forest where thousands were executed
In wooded northern Russia, near the Finnish border, archaeological digs by a patriotic historical group are unearthing controversy.
The Russian Military History Society, which was created by the Kremlin, says it is seeking the remains of Soviet soldiers who died when the region was occupied by Nazi-aligned Finns during World War II.
But human rights activists allege the organisation is trying to cover up Stalin-era repressions in the Sandarmokh forest, in Karelia.
The forest is known as the place where as many as 9,000 people were executed during Joseph Stalin’s purges.
“The search for the remains of soldiers from the Second World War on the site of mass executions by the NKVD (the predecessor of the KGB, now the FSB) in the 1930s looks like an attempt to manipulate memory,” the Memorial rights NGO said on its website.
